Pushpendra’s father, Harish Chandra Yadav, said that though his mother was not keeping well for some time after she broke her leg a few months ago, it was the shock of her grandson’s death that killed her.

A week after 28-year-old Pushpendra Yadav was killed in an alleged police encounter in Jhansi, his 85-year-old grandmother died on Sunday. Her family alleged that she died as she could not bear the news of her grandson’s death and had stopped eating from the past few days.

Pushpendra’s father, Harish Chandra Yadav, said that though his mother was not keeping well for some time after she broke her leg a few months ago, it was the shock of her grandson’s death that killed her.

“Initially, we did not tell her about Pushpendra’s death as we knew she would not be able to cope with the loss. But she kept on asking where is Pushpendra. Around four days ago, she came to know about his death. After that, she had stopped eating food and also stopped taking medicines. She would have lived longer but her condition started deteriorating after that,” Harish Chandra said, adding that “one fake encounter destroyed the life of my whole family”.

Meanwhile, Pushpendra’s elder brother, Ravindra, said that his whole family would choose to die if they did not get justice. “If the government cannot give us justice, then kill us all in police encounters. Today, my grandmother died and soon every member of my family will embrace death,” he said.

On October 6, Pushpendra was killed in an alleged police encounter, hours after he allegedly fired at the station house officer (SHO) of Moth police station, Dharmendra Singh Chauhan, who had seized Pushpendra’s truck last month. His family had refused to cremate the body demanding a murder FIR registered against Chauhan.